LI wig maker Shake-N-Go Fashion to lay off up to 80 in 2018

A Port Washington maker of wigs and other human and synthetic hair products said Tuesday it plans to lay off up to 80 Long Island-based workers as it shifts most of its warehouse operations to Georgia.

Shake-N-Go Fashion Inc. plans to let the workers go in March or April, the company said in a regulatory filing posted on the state’s website this week.

The company plans to keep about 10 of its roughly 90 warehouse workers on Long Island, its general counsel, Bo K. Chun, said in an email Tuesday. Its headquarters will remain here, and the company will keep its sales, design, marketing and management employees on the Island, she said.

All warehouse employees were given the choice of relocating to Georgia, leaving the company and receiving a severance package, or applying for open positions at the New York location, Chun said. The workers are not represented by a union.

The company needs more warehouse space as its inventory expands, and rent in New York is four times higher than in Georgia, Chun said.

In addition, she said, the move “will give us a competitive advantage because we can make faster delivery to our customers at a reduced UPS shipping cost.”

Shake-N-Go designs and manufactures hair extensions, wigs, hairpieces and accessories, according to its website. The company was founded in 1991 in College Point, Queens, and moved to Long Island in 2013, Chun said. Its new warehouse is located in Suwanee, Georgia, the company said in its WARN notice filing.

Under New York’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, companies with at least 50 full-time employees must file a 90-day notice of a mass layoff or closing.

By Maura McDermott

maura.mcdermott@newsday.commauramcdermott

Maura McDermott covers education. Since joining Newsday in 2012, she also has worked on the investigations team and covered real estate and the business of health care.